Tajikistan beat North Korea 1-0 to set up a final against hosts India in the AFC Challenge Cup.
India brightened its chances of qualifying for the AFC Under-16 football championship by beating Lebanon 3-0 at Dammam in Saudi Arabia on Thursday.
East Bengal started their AFC Cup campaign with a 0-1 loss to Lebanon's Safa Sporting Club.
I-League champions Dempo Sports Club began their AFC Cup campaign with a 2-1 win over Yemen's Al Tilal in Pune on Tuesday. Dempo scored through Brazilian midfielder Roberto Mendes Silva (53rd minute) and Nigerian striker Ranti Martins Soleye (67th minute), while Al Tilal striker Tafese Tesfaye pulled one back in the 75th minute of the Group A encounter.
IMAGES from Premier League matches played on Saturday.
Poor defending dashed Dempo's hopes of becoming the first Indian club to reach the final of the AFC Cup after they were demolished 1-4 by Lebanon's Safa FC in the return leg semi-final tie to go down 1-5 on aggregate in Hyderabad on Tuesday. The Goan club had lost 0-1 in the first leg in Beirut.
India thrashed Bhutan 4-0 in their last Group C match to finish second behind Iraq and qualify for the AFC Under-16 Football Championship in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Chhetri's record against the neighbours is quite impressive, scoring four goals in eight matches including a spectacular strike from a free kick in Kolkata in 2022.
Mahindra United is placed in Group E along with Maldivian outfit New Radiant, Singapore Armed Forces FC and Happy Valley from Hong Kong.
Talismanic Nigerian Edeh Chidi scored a hat-trick and set up a couple more goals as East Bengal thrashed Yangon United of Myanmar 5-1 to enter the AFC Cup quarter-finals for the second time after 2004.
India gave title contenders Uzbekistan a mighty scare before going down fighting 2-3 in their opening match of the AFC U-16 Football Championship in Tehran on Sunday.
AFC secretary-general Peter Vellappan slammed the Goa club, saying teams that do not follow professional principles should not form part of the National League.
Indian women's team began their AFC U-19 Championship qualifiers round one campaign on a winning note as they defeated Bangladesh 1-0 in their opening match at Melaka in Malaysia on Sunday.
'The whole team is motivated with what's happening in Palestine, it's a difficult time for all families. But we're professional players, we should keep it up the same way as we've been working in the last few weeks.'
Gurjinder Singh and Adil Khan are the two new faces in India's 23-member football squad, announced by national coach Savio Medeira, for the upcoming AFC Challenge Cup, which begins in Kathmandu, Nepal on March 9.
The 1-1 draw gave India its first point in the competition after five defeats in Group 'A'.
While the players did the job on the field, the man quietly working behind the scenes was former India centre-back Mahesh Gawali.
East Bengal slumped to their fourth straight defeat in the AFC Cup after a 1-4 drubbing at the hands of Al Qadsia in their away match in Kuwait City.
Federation Cup champions East Bengal suffered their second consecutive defeat in the AFC Cup after going down 0-3 to formidable Lebanese side Al Nejmeh in a lop-sided football match in Beirut.
Kuruniyan ACL tear sparks row, Mohun Bagan 'refuse' to release players for Asian Games
The AIFF has sent the video tapes of the controversial Santosh Trophy quarterfinal match between Manipur and Goa to AFC.
Jeje Lalpekhlua (9th minute), Kean Lewis (74th) and Bikramjit Singh (80th) scored for Mohun Bagan while Seminlen Doungel (52nd) found the target for Bengaluru FC in the Group E match.
Bengaluru FC conceded two late goals in dramatic fashion as they lost 0-2 to 10-man Abahani Limited Dhaka of Bangladesh in their AFC Cup group match in Dhaka.
Indian football Coach Savio Medeira is hoping that his boys will not repeat the past mistakes when they take on Philippines in the AFC Challenge Cup, in Kathmandu on Sunday.
Despite fielding their reserve team, East Bengal dominated the proceedings to hammer Balestier Khalsa FC 3-0 for their first win this season in the the AFC Cup football tournament
A missed penalty from midfielder Marcos Pereira in the first half proved expensive as Federation Cup champions Mohun Bagan went down 0-1 to Al Karama in the opening Group D encounter of the AFC Cup at the Khaled Ibn Al Waleed Stadium on Tuesday night.
Three Lebanese football officials have been charged with receiving sexual bribes to fix an AFC Cup match in Singapore, a government law-enforcement agency of the island city-state said on Thursday.
Saudi Arabia announced it would bid only minutes after soccer's global governing body called for Asia and Oceania bids on October 4.
In a clinical display by the Indian football team, the colts got off to a winning start in the AFC U-19 Qualifiers, beating 10-man Turkmenistan 3-1 at the Takhti Stadium in Tehran, Iran on Monday.
The Asian Football Confederation is not aware of any suspicion linking Lebanon's World Cup qualifiers to the country's matchfixing scandal but has requested a full report, the regional body said on Thursday.
India head coach Igor Stimac on Wednesday said his team has a "couple of players" with few injury issues but that will not stop them from going all out in an attempt to secure full points against Uzbekistan in the AFC Asian Cup in Doha on Thursday.
Dempo's campaign in the AFC Cup took off on a bright note as they held on gamely to a Ranty Martin's first half strike to down Syrian club Al Maged 1-0 in the Group E league match at the Nehru Stadium on Tuesday.
The India under-19 team frittered away a first half lead and lost their opening match in the AFC Youth Football Championship.
Subodh Kumar's second-half goal earned India a 1-1 draw in the AFC under-19 qualifiers in Teheran, Iran, on Wednesday.
Gokulam Kerala have written to the AFC to reimburse the money spent on the travel
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
'I have always believed in building a 'team for the future'. Eventually, in a few years, these guys will represent India National Team. My eventual goal is to unearth some talents who'll be ready for the senior national team'
India suffered one of its most embarrassing defeat in recent years despite Sunil Chhetri's 94th international goal in his 150th match.
India crashed out of the AFC Under-16 Championship after going down 0-3 to Syria in a Group B league match in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on Monday. A goal from Asaad Al Khadr and two own goals from Deepak Devrani and Ashish Chhetri dashed India's hopes of progressing to the quarter-finals.
Dempo Sports Club have been pitted against Singapore League runners-up Home United in the AFC Cup quarterfinals.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances